Road Rage, Call center Cabs & Prejudices

Flashy cars, flashy mobiles and precariously hung laptop bags define the city of Bangalore today. Congested and traffic riddled roads define the geographical entity called Bangalore. Road rages and impatient drivers define the trait of a stressed out Bangalorean.

The city, which has become the back office of the world, has for some time been bursting in its seams thanks to an influx of migrant knowledge workers.

Compounding the traffic woes is the omni present ‘call center cabs’- an imposing sight in your rear view mirror is a Qualis breathing down your neck, packed with 5-8 people either setting off to work or going back home to give their haphazard body and bio clock some rest. Rash and reckless driving by these professional drivers have led to an increase in road rages and accidents in Bangalore.

Something in me ticks when I see these call center cabs. That something is most often ticked by the drivers who have not an aorta of patience and have an uncanny knack of cutting in front of you, on the side and given a chance, above you also. Gone are days when drivers where a gentlemanly lot and adhered to basic road courtesies. The new breed has time for anything.

Playing the devil’s advocate (does he need one?), Transport providers have time deadlines to keep and they need to reach people to office and back in the allotted time. Their revenues depend on how many trips they can make in a day. This leads to a direct increase in the workload and pressure of the hapless drivers. For them, the day does not end when it ends for us-drivers have to report back and are sent out on the next assignment straight away.

Which makes me imagine- “If driving down airport road one time in a day can make me feel restless and sometimes reckless, it isn’t difficult to imagine the plight of the drivers and why they are reckless.

I still blame the drivers for reckless driving, but let us all acknowledge that they are also stressed out Bangaloreans driving not for fun, but to drive their personal lives in some direction

Citizen Jeevez (Which is me!)

Comments

Rajeswari said…
Poor B'loreans!Lion's share of their lives are sandwiched between traffic jam!
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Jeevez said…
HO HA HA!

Look who's talking!

I always like gutsy Dubaites talking about traffice jams.

Guess Scrawler has never been on the Dubai-Sharjah highway early morning!!

Look who's talking abt traffic jams!!!
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Rajeswari said…
That was just an empathetic expression(reaction) of a Dubaite towards B'loreans :)

Dubaites live in Traffic jams!
Thursday, October 09, 2008
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